disable startup items
#1
#2
I assume you mean items that are in the "Startup" folder which is visible under "Programs" when you click "Start" on your taskbar...
Windows itself doesn't put anything in the startup folder; Any programs you put there will automatically start when you start Windows and some programs that you've installed may want to put something in your startup folder, but nothing is specific to windows and anything you delete will only effect the operation of the program which installed it.
For example, I could put the little program that sets my clock via the atomic clock in my startup folder and every time I start Windows, it'll set my clock for me; But in actuality, all that I have in the startup folder on this computer is something Office installed called "Fast Start"; I don't delete it because it'll effect the operation of my version of MS Office; It seems like on another computer of mine, the scanner installed a few things in my startup folder and I may have deleted some because I'd rather manually start it, but I can't be sure because I'm not looking at that particular computer.
But as to what you can delete, that depends on your individual setup and your individual preferences; Installations often try to put something in startup just as almost all beg for you to put them under your "Start" button and add an icon to your desktop while there's no real reason to do either of these, except convenience.
The best thing you can do is try and determine which program the shortcuts in your startup folder are associated with, delete those that you feel are unecessary but leave them in your recycle bin until you know that it hasn't hurt anything's operation; If you need it back, undelete it from recycle and if everything works fine, dump your trash when you are ready.
But please note; Like everything else under "Start", you'll only be deleting miniscule shortcuts and not any actual programs, themselves; By cleaning out your startup folder, you will be freeing operational memory once you restart Windows, but the amount of real esate you'll be freeing won't equal a hill of beans; To free real esate, you can take the microscopic gains from clearing your startup folder, but for true gains, you'll need to do something else...
Windows itself doesn't put anything in the startup folder; Any programs you put there will automatically start when you start Windows and some programs that you've installed may want to put something in your startup folder, but nothing is specific to windows and anything you delete will only effect the operation of the program which installed it.
For example, I could put the little program that sets my clock via the atomic clock in my startup folder and every time I start Windows, it'll set my clock for me; But in actuality, all that I have in the startup folder on this computer is something Office installed called "Fast Start"; I don't delete it because it'll effect the operation of my version of MS Office; It seems like on another computer of mine, the scanner installed a few things in my startup folder and I may have deleted some because I'd rather manually start it, but I can't be sure because I'm not looking at that particular computer.
But as to what you can delete, that depends on your individual setup and your individual preferences; Installations often try to put something in startup just as almost all beg for you to put them under your "Start" button and add an icon to your desktop while there's no real reason to do either of these, except convenience.
The best thing you can do is try and determine which program the shortcuts in your startup folder are associated with, delete those that you feel are unecessary but leave them in your recycle bin until you know that it hasn't hurt anything's operation; If you need it back, undelete it from recycle and if everything works fine, dump your trash when you are ready.
But please note; Like everything else under "Start", you'll only be deleting miniscule shortcuts and not any actual programs, themselves; By cleaning out your startup folder, you will be freeing operational memory once you restart Windows, but the amount of real esate you'll be freeing won't equal a hill of beans; To free real esate, you can take the microscopic gains from clearing your startup folder, but for true gains, you'll need to do something else...
#3
Huxley,
which start up are you wanting to delete things? The one within start/programs/startup or the start up options within msconfig?
If within msconfig, then you will want to keep any program related to antivirus programs, virus protection and power profiles. Just remember, what you unclick in there, will have to be loaded manually to run them (keep system tray, and scan registry).
Personally I've unclicked all to see what would happen and it didn't change much other than the fact I had to manually run (click an icon) the program I wanted to use such as the firewall and virus protection.
I am basing this on me trying to remember what os you are running. I vaguely remember that you run either windows 98 or 95. If you are running XP or 2000, please wait for other posts. I don't have any experience with those two, so I'm not sure what the procedure is for them.
Kay
which start up are you wanting to delete things? The one within start/programs/startup or the start up options within msconfig?
If within msconfig, then you will want to keep any program related to antivirus programs, virus protection and power profiles. Just remember, what you unclick in there, will have to be loaded manually to run them (keep system tray, and scan registry).
Personally I've unclicked all to see what would happen and it didn't change much other than the fact I had to manually run (click an icon) the program I wanted to use such as the firewall and virus protection.
I am basing this on me trying to remember what os you are running. I vaguely remember that you run either windows 98 or 95. If you are running XP or 2000, please wait for other posts. I don't have any experience with those two, so I'm not sure what the procedure is for them.
Kay
#5
scan reg just checks for errors. Thats why it is good to run it at boot up. it can determine if there are errors and fix them before actually finishing the boot up. The systray runs the other things like the audio and video. These are a pain to try to find to start manually, and other programs that use them won't usually automatically load them when they start since they assume that they're already loaded and ready.
Those two items were the only two I could see leaving checked. Shouldn't totally stall a machine if you were to unchecked everything, but could cause you to have to seek out what wasn't loaded to load it yourself.
I leave the virus protection and firewall checked as well since sometimes the kids reboot and forget to load those two things. Like runnin' naked through a briar patch
I can't remember what happens when you uncheck the power profile. Usually there are two of them listed. I think it lists another one and automatically adds it to the startup after that.
Kay
Those two items were the only two I could see leaving checked. Shouldn't totally stall a machine if you were to unchecked everything, but could cause you to have to seek out what wasn't loaded to load it yourself.
I leave the virus protection and firewall checked as well since sometimes the kids reboot and forget to load those two things. Like runnin' naked through a briar patch
I can't remember what happens when you uncheck the power profile. Usually there are two of them listed. I think it lists another one and automatically adds it to the startup after that.
Kay
#6
If you are running Windows98 just go to Start --> Run. Then type in MSCONFIG and click ok.
The box that comes up will have tabs across the top. Click on the very last one and you will see a bunch of check boxes. Uncheck all but the ones that were mentioned in previous postings and then reboot your machine.
The box that comes up will have tabs across the top. Click on the very last one and you will see a bunch of check boxes. Uncheck all but the ones that were mentioned in previous postings and then reboot your machine.